TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) \u2014 The south uprights lying on the turf, Arizona State\u2019s fans lingered on the field long after another what-did-we-just-see win. Even for a fan base used to wild finishes during the Sun Devils\u2019 two-year rise, this was astonishing.<\/p>\n
Sam Leavitt has a way of doing that to people.<\/p>\n
After a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead turned a deficit, Leavitt led Arizona State down the field to set up Raleek Brown\u2019s 1-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left on Saturday, capping a wild 26-22 win that handed No. 7 Texas Tech its first loss of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat quarterback changes everything,\u201d Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. \u201cHe\u2019s a difference maker.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sun Devils needed every bit of Leavitt\u2019s late-game magic.<\/p>\n
Texas Tech (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) labored most of the afternoon without starting quarterback Behren Morton (knee), finishing with 276 total yards after averaging an FBS-best 558.8 through the first six games.<\/p>\n
Will Hammond showed his mettle after failing to move Texas Tech\u2019s offense through three quarters, orchestrating two late scoring drives. The freshman scored on a 1-yard run and, after Texas Tech\u2019s defense held, found Reggie Virgil on a 12-yard touchdown pass.<\/p>\n
Hammond put the Red Raiders up 22-19 by running it in for the 2-point conversion, converting after a holding call on Arizona State on the first attempt.<\/p>\n
The problem: The Red Raiders left too much time on the clock for Leavitt and Arizona State.<\/p>\n
The reigning Big 12 champion Sun Devils (5-2, 3-1) started the final drive from their 25 with two minutes left and quickly moved down the field. Leavitt completed 5 of 7 passes for 61 yards on the drive \u2014 a 33-yarder to Jordyn Tyson on a fourth-and-2 was key \u2014 and benefited from a pass interference call on Texas Tech\u2019s Brice Pollack to set up Brown\u2019s TD run.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into that 2-minute (drill), there wasn\u2019t too much worry there,\u201d said Leavitt, who threw for 319 yards and a touchdown after missing last week\u2019s game against Utah with a foot injury. <\/p>\n
There was a little at the end when the Red Raiders reached Arizona State\u2019s 28 on its final drive, but Hammond\u2019s desperation heave into the end zone was swatted down. <\/p>\n
Texas Tech followed No. 2 Miami, No. 5 Mississippi and No. 10 LSU to become the fourth top-10 team to lose this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re fixin\u2019 to find out how we face a loss,\u201d McGuire said. \u201cThat\u2019s the adversity you\u2019ve got to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas Tech was without defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard, who had season-ending ankle surgery this week, and the Sun Devils took advantage by racking up 394 total yards against one of the nation\u2019s best defenses. Arizona State had a hard time finishing drives, settling for four field goals by Jesus Gomez, but came through at just the right time \u2014 thanks to Leavitt. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been around a guy who just works to win football games as much as he does and in the biggest moments he makes the biggest plays,\u201d Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said.<\/p>\n
Carter injured<\/p>\n
Texas Tech tight end Terrance Carter Jr. was carted off the field early in the third quarter after colliding with an Arizona State player on a pass over the middle.<\/p>\n
Carter appeared to have injured his left leg. He has four catches for 19 yards and three touchdowns this season.<\/p>\n
The takeaway<\/p>\n
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders rallied behind their backup quarterback, but their defense fell short when they needed a stop. <\/p>\n
Arizona State: The Sun Devils appeared to be headed toward a devastating loss after giving up two late touchdowns, but Leavitt rallied them \u2014 just as he did so many times during Arizona State\u2019s College Football Playoff run a year ago.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Texas Tech: Plays at Oklahoma State next Saturday.<\/p>\n
Arizona State: Hosts Houston next Saturday.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a> and here<\/a> (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) \u2014 The south uprights lying on the turf, Arizona State\u2019s fans lingered on the field…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[6550,414,9124,9123,9471,261,416,300,1888,419,8152,168,170,169,9470,417,3778,154,8735,27,415,1891,1760],"class_list":["post-10665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-state-sun-devils","tag-arizona-state-sun-devils-football","tag-az-state-wire","tag-brice-pollack","tag-college-football","tag-college-sports","tag-football","tag-joey-mcguire","tag-jordyn-tyson","tag-kenny-dillingham","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-reggie-virgil","tag-sam-leavitt","tag-skyler-gill-howard","tag-sports","tag-terrance-carter-jr","tag-texas","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders-football","tag-tx-state-wire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}